reinhold



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet l.

a, F. J. REINHOLD.

CAPSULE STRIPPING MACHINE.

No. 429,957. Patented June 10, 1890.

WITNESSES 1W VEN TOR 4M 6.575 z wmm (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

F. 'J. REINI-IOLD. CAPSULE STRIPPING MACHINE.

No. 429,957. Patented June 10, 1890.

WHWESSE8 IWVEWTOR gfwlZ-taw I (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

' F. J. REINHOLD. I

CAPSULE STRIPPING MACHINE.

m: Nanms Pi'rcns cu, FHuYo-urnm, wAsNlN ccccccc c,

1 A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIGEQ FRANK J. REINHOLD, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO FREDERICK A. HUBEL, OF SAME PLACE.

CAPSULE-STRIPPING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 429,957, dated June 10,1890.

Application filed November 6, 1889. Serial No. 329,412. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK J. REINHOLD, of Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Capsule-Stripping Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inthe construction of machines for stripping gelatine capsules from their molds, as well as for stripping the rings of refuse gelatine which have been cut off from the capsules, and for keeping the capsules separate from the rings; and the invention consists of a set of spring-clamps for stripping the capsules and a set of springclamps for stripping the rings, and a table for holding the molds in their proper position before the clamps, and means for drawing the spring-clamps back to strip the capsules and rings, and means for shifting the molds from before one set of clamps to a position before the other set.

Spring-clamps have to my knowledge been used for stripping capsules and rings, and several modes of opening and closing the clamps have been used, two of which are shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States No. 223,140 and No. 276,094.; but any form of clamp or opening device may be used in my invention.

Figure 1 shows a top view of the machine. Fig. 2 shows a vertical section of the machine,

' with the table when in its horizontal position,

indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 3 shows atop View of the table with the front plate removed and the shifting block to the extreme left. Fig. 4 shows the same with the front plate in place. Fig. 5 shows the same with front plate removed and the shifting block to the extreme right. Fig. 6 shows a vertical section of the table on line X X, Fig. 4:. Fig. 7 shows the details of the shifting block. Fig. 8 shows a section on line Y Y of Fig. 5. Fig. 9 shows the detail of catch 36 of Fig. 4.

Like numbers indicate like parts in all the drawings.

1 is the frame of the machine, of any suitable form.

2 is a movable head, the ends 3 of which slide horizontally in slides 4, formed in the frame.

The movable head 2 carries two sets of spring-clampsone set (marked 5) to operate on one set of molds to strip the capsules and another set (marked 6) to operate on the other set of molds to strip the rings. These sets of clamps may be of any suitable construction and may have any suitable device for opening or closing them. i

The forms of clamps and opening devices which are shown in the drawings are like those shown and described in United States Letters Patent No. 276,094; but any other known form of clamps and opening and closing devices may be used.

5 is a shaftj ournaled in the frame, to which are fixed arms 6, the ends of which arms are connected to a movable head 2 by links 7. A handle 8 is fixed to the shaft 5,which serves to turn it, and thus give the movable head and the spring-clamps attached thereto a reciprocating movement in the direction of the length of the mold-pins.

Any other means than that shown may be used for moving the heads 2 forward and backward, and means may be employed--such as stops 4E9to limit the movement of the head 2, and such stops may be made adjustable.

9 is a table, which is journaled in the frame by trunnions 10, formed on the edge of it. This table may occupy a vertical position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or a horizontal position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The table is shown clearly in Figs. 3 to 9. It is formed of a base-plate, in the back edge of which is the groove 12, which latter receives the edge of the mold-plates 13. The plate has a long slot 14 cut through it and a long groove 15 cut in its upper face. The shifting block 16 travels in this groove and is moved by a handle 17, which projects through the long slot 14. The block 16 is pulled toward the right by a cord 18, which is made fast to the block and passes over a pulley 19, journaled on a projection 20, from the end of the table 9, and thence over a pulley 21 on the journal 10. Aweight 22 is fixed to the cord 18, which tends to draw the cord and the block 16 always to the right. hen the block is moved to the left by means of the handle 17, it is held in that position by the latch 23, which is pivoted to the base-plate and which catches behind the end of the block, as shown in Fig. 3. The block 16 has formed on its left-hand end a hook 21, which is pivoted to the block and held up by a spring 25, Fig. 7. The hook will turn down out of the way when the block is moved to the left. The latch s3 works in a shallow groove 26 cut into the top face of the base-plate, and is pressed into locking position by a spring 27. A long strip 28 also works in the groove '26, which has its left-hand end in the shape of a wedge 29 and its rightrhand end turned up so as to project above the surface of the table. The strip 2 is forced to the left by the spring 30. (See Fig. 8)

All the parts just described are held in place by the plate 31, which is held down by the screws 32. A similar plate is held down by screws 34. The plate 31 has a rectangular hole 35 cut in it, in which hole a catch 36 is pivoted and which is held up by a spring 37. (See Fig. 9.) The mold-plates are held in position by the groove 12 and the two end pieces 38, and on the front by the locking-bar 39, which latter is jonrnaled to the end pieces by trunnions 40. A deep hole is drilled into the right-hand end of the bar, into which a spring 41 is inserted, and which spring presses the plunger 42 against the end piece, and thus presses the locking -bar 39 to the left. (See Figs. 5 and (3.) A hook 43, formed on the bar 39, hooks into a slot 41, cut in the table, and locks the bar when closed. The handle 45 serves to unlock and move the bar 39. The lip 46, formed on the bar serves to hold the mold plates when the capsules are being drawn off. A stop 47, formed on the bar 39, holds the left-hand set of plates from moving to the right. The table is counterbalanced by a weight 48, fixed by an arm to one of the trunnions 10.

The operation of the machine is as follows: Suppose the table in a horizontal position, withasetof mold-plates,u nstripped of its rings on its right-hand end,held in position between the catch 36 and the end piece 38, Fig. 4. The locking-bar 39 is open. The shifting head 16 has drawn the mold-plates to the right, and the hook 24: is still in contact with the edge of the mold-plate. The movable head 2 is inits extreme backward position and the springclamps 5 and 6 are open. A new set of unstripped mold-plates are now laid on the lefthand end of the table and pushed up against the end piece 38. The lockingbar 39 is closed. The table is turned up to the vertical position. The shifting block 16 is moved to the left by the handle 17 and is caught and held by the latch 23. The hook 24 has passed under the new plates and hooked behind the left-hand edge of them. The handle 8 is raised, which moves the head 2 to its extreme forward position. The spring clamps are closed. The handle 8 is pushed down, thus drawing the capsules and rings off the molds. The spring clamps are opened, the table turned down, the locking-bar 39 opened, and i the right-hand set of plates removed, which disengagcs the upturned end 28 of the strip 28.

The spring 30 forces the wedge end 29 of the strip 28 to the left, which moves the latch 23, which disengages the shifting head 10. The head 16 is drawn to therightby the weight 22 and carries the left-hand setof plates with it. The plates strike the upturned end 28 and draw the strip 25 back to the right. The catch 36 flies up behind the edge of the plates and holds them; and this completes the cycle, and the machine is ready to operate upon a second set of plates.

As the only object in making the head 2 movable is to enable the clamps and plate holder to be separated to perform the act of stripping, it is obviouslyimmaterial whether the head carries the clamp or the plate-holder or both be made movable.

I prefer to arrange the table or plate-holder 9 as shown in the drawings, so that it can swing from a substantially horizontal to a substantially vertical position, for this renders the use of the machine easier.

I have shown the table or plate-holder 9 hinged and adapted to swing; but I do not confine myself thereto, as obviously it can be otherwise arranged and supported.

The illustrated construct-ion and arrangement of the clamps is in sets, those of one set being longer than those of the other set, the effect of which is that the points of the clamps of the several sets are in different planes, the result of which is that the clamps grasp the mold-pins opposite to them in different planes, one passing through the pins between the capsules and the rings left by cutting them and the other passing through the pins beyond the rings. It is manifest that this result may be attained in other ways than by making the clamps of different lengths, this not being the essential feature, it being that the clamps shall engage the molds of the different sets in different planes, whereby one set of clamps seizes the capsules only, while the other set seizes the rings remaining on the molds after the capsules have been withdrawn, the rings and capsules being thus separately delivered and not mixed, as heretofore.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with multiple sets of capsule-molds, corresponding sets of clamps having their points arranged in diiferent planes, and reciprocating mechanism for bringing them together and separating them, whereby the capsules after being cut may be drawn from one set of molds and the rings from another and separately deposited, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with multiple sets of capsule-molds, corresponding sets of clamps having their points arranged in different planes, reciprocating mechanism for bringing them together and separating them, and a reciprocating carrier for transferring the molds of one set to the place from which the other set has been removed, substantially as set forth.

3. In combination with multiple sets of capsule-molds, corresponding sets of clamps having their points arranged in different planes, reciprocating mechanism for bringing them together and separating them, and an automatic reciprocating carrier transferring the molds of one set to occupy the place from which the other has been removed, substantially as set forth.

4. In combination with multiple sets of capsule-molds, corresponding sets of clamps arranged to simultaneously engage the moldpins at different distances from their points, substantially as set forth.

5. In combination with the clamps, a swinging table adapted to receive the mold-plates when horizontally placed and to be turn ed into a vertical position with the mold-pins in line with the clamps, substantially as set forth.

6. In combination with a plate-holder adapted to receive multiple sets of moldplates, corresponding multiple sets of clamps adapted to grasp the mold-pins in different planes, a locking device for attaching the mold-plates to the holder, and mechanism for bringing together and separating the molds and clamps, substantially as set forth.

7. In combination with a plate-holder adapted to receive multiple sets of moldplates, corresponding multiple sets of clamps adapted to grasp the mold-pins in different planes, a locking device for attaching the mold-plates to the holder, a reciprcoating carrier for shifting one set of molds to the place from which another set has been removed after being entirely stripped, and mechanism for bringing together and separating the molds and clamps,substantially as set forth.

8. In a capsule-stripping machine, the combination, with a head carrying two sets of clamps, one set adapted to strip the capsules from a plate of molds and the other adapted to simultaneously strip the refuse rings from a similar plate of molds, of a plate-holder adapted to hold two plates of molds in position to be operated upon by said clamps, a clamp on said plate-holder for rigidly locking the mold-plates in position, a shifting device for moving the mold-plates opposite the capsule-stripping clamps, a catch locking said shifting device, and a releasing device for opening said catch normally blocked by the mold-plate, substantially as shown and described.

9. In a capsule-stripping machine, the combination,with the movable head 2 and the two sets of clamps 5 and 6 carried thereby, of the table or plate-holder 9, having the groove 12, the mold-plates 13, adapted to slide in said groove, and means for shifting and holding the plates, consisting of the sliding block 16, carrying the catch 24, the catch 23, the releasing device 29, the catch 36, and the locking-clamp 39, substantially as described.

10. I11 a capsule-stripping machine, the combination of the two sets of clamps 5 and 6, carried on a movable head, the table or plate-holder 9, extending across said two sets of clamps, the sliding block 16, carrying catch 24 and moving in a groove in the table, the weight 22, connected by cord 18 with said shifting block 16, and the mold-plates 13, substantially as shown and described.

11. In a capsule-stripping machine, the table or plate-holder 9, having thereon the swinging and endWise-moving locking-clamp 39, substantially as shown and described.

12. Ina capsule-stripping machine, the table or plate-holder 9, having the endwisemoving shifting block 16, and catch 24, and pivoted catch 23, engaging with shifting block 16, the releasing device 28, having the upturned end 28', and the pivoted catch 36, substantially as shown and described.

FRANK J. REINHOLD.

WVitnesses:

HENRY B. LOTHROP, GERTRUDE H. ANDERSON. 

